Shadows - Heretic Kingdoms Walkthrough, Part Two: Thole

The Devourer has been plunked into the world by a mystery man in a hood, and given near-free reign to wander, the Devourer has snagged the soul of a dead person for his own purposes. Now, guided by the Hooded Man, the Devourer heads to Thole, a city of bandits, merchants, and wayfarers that has probably seen better days.

Realm of Souls

Though Thole is your next destination, you can instead opt to travel to the Realm of Souls via the Cenotaph. This small area essentially acts as a hub, allowing you to view your current Puppets, as well as make purchases for the Devourer via a mote-like Shadow Trader. It's not much use now, but you'll return here in the future.

Cellar of Thole

- Immediately after travelling via the Cenotaph you'll appear in the Cellar, surrounded by enemies. Quickly kill them off. The Devourer faces familiar baddies, while the Puppet will have to take on all-new Desert Tarantulas. Desert Tarantulas can poison your Puppet and may prove quite painful, so try to dispatch them with special abilities.

- Swap to the Puppet and open the door in the north (once you've busted up all the boxes down here, of course). A few enemies and boxes later you'll find the Cellar's exit. Welcome to Thole!

Thole

The big city! Upon exiting the Cellar you'll get a little cut scene with some of Thole's guards (Jasker gets a more personal touch if he's your Puppet, and Kalig straight out gets a personal quest), and then you're free to wander Thole at your leisure. Note that this area is quite different for the Devourer and your Puppet; where the Puppet can wander freely and talk with people, the Devourer will mostly find enemies. It's worth exploring Thole as both characters.

- If you're playing as Jasker, you'll receive the quest Get a Message to House Malfagon upon arrival. This quest is necessary for proceeding with the game, as it yields a key you'll need to get to the Hooded Man. (I assume Kalig has his own version of the quest. I'll figure out what it is soon enough.)

- The marketplace in the south is full of merchants who will sell you goods. Rabbath, by the Captain of Guards, sells a variety of restorative potions and crafting ingredients...

- ... Tesset, east of the Captain, sells a bundle of belts...

- ... Fayruz, west of the Captain, sells weapons and armour...

- ... Wanion to the north of the Captain sells a variety of items, and has the Origin and Nature of Shadow sitting on his stall...

- ... Akram, on the edge of the market in the northeast, has a bunch of armour and weapons...

- ... and Morphew, also north of the Captain, will sell you an assortment of stuff. If you speak to him on other topics he'll offer you the quests Market Tariffs and An Eye for an Eye.

- Approach the guards in the northeast of town and one of them, Marib the Silk Warden, will ask your help in purchasing a knife. This will trigger the quest An Unfortunate Mishap.

- If you're playing as Evia, you can speak to Arashad, the leader of the Guild of Silk, in the northeast of Thole. Speak to him about the Garulian Empire to receive her personal quest, Legend of the Garulian Empire.

- Thole also opens up the possibility of Crafting items using Crafting Anvils. You'll find Anvils near merchants on your map, such as the one beside Akram. In order to Craft you'll have to acquire items from your surroundings, either from killing enemies or plundering plants / boxes / jars / whatever. Keep your eyes open for raw materials, then drag them back to an Anvil for experimentation.

As the Devourer

- If you search the west side of Thole you'll find a benign soul named Dione, tucked beside a building. She'll ask the Devourer to avenge her soul. Agreeing to help her will trigger the quest A Marital Dispute.

- Cross the bridge in the west leading to the Burial Grounds. The Blind Demon will appear and entreat the Devourer to accept several pacts, and doing so will lead to the quest The Blind Demon - By Foul Means.

Arcanum

Your ultimate destination in Thole is the Arcanum, a building in the north. You'll need the Arcanum Key to get through the gate safeguarding the Arcanum. How you get the key changes depending on your character; details are provided above.

Upon entering the Arcanum you'll find the Hooded Man, real name Krenze, waiting. He'll soon come under attack. Hold off his attacker while healing yourself - running in a circle to avoid her attacks will do nicely - until she's forced into flight. After she's gone, speak to Krenze to learn a great deal more about his problems. With enough talking he'll hand over the Skull Key, which you can use to access the Lower Catacombs via the Burial Grounds. The plot thickens!